Author's Note: Sorry if anyone's OOC.

Disclaimer: Repeat of last chapters'.

Chapter 2

It was some months later before the child's fate was officially decided by the headmaster of the school. In the meantime he had kept her moving from house to house, place to place, until he could find the best way to fulfill the wishes of the letter. Perhaps there was a vague familiarity that had prompted him to follow the letter, or perhaps he just wished to grant the last wish of the person who wrote it, but for some reason, the headmaster had decided to honor it. The problem had been finding a family.

Who would take in a young witch—the headmaster had no doubt she was, for he could feel her magic—without knowing more about the wizarding world than necessary? Since she was going to a family of muggles, should they even know about her magic before she got her letter? He carefully decided on a course of action, aware of how similar his choice was to another he had made recently.

A grey tabby cat watched through the window of the two-story brick house as the young couple doted on their four-month-old child. Only she, a divination teacher, and the man who would come later knew that their child was going to die that night, from something the muggles called SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

The poor couple had no idea that their daughter was on her deathbed as they laid their baby down in its crib and went to bed themselves in the next room over. Unspoken magic was used to make sure that they would sleep until morning. The cat continued its wait.

The baby, soon to be dead, would be replaced with the child the man was to bring, a degenerating glamour placed on her to hide the difference form its adoptive parents. If the sick baby did indeed survive the night, then a quick switch would take place again, just before one of the parents came in. The cat knew the headmaster's plan had flaws, but was confidant none of them would come to light between now and in eleven years. If they did, the headmaster had plans for them.

The cat watched as a man appeared with a crack! and started walking calmly towards her, or rather the window she was guarding. The cat leapt off the windowsill, transfiguring into a stern-looking woman as she did. The man didn't pause in his stride; if there was any reaction from him, it was a slight twinkle in his already-smiling eyes.

"I'm pleased to see that you have been watching them," the man said, "and that this time you aren't frowning as much."

The stern woman had indeed been frowning, and it only deepened at this comment. "Albus," she said, "this is twice in the same month. First with the Potter boy and now with this-" she couldn't help but pause here as she didn't know much about the child. "-girl," she finished, waving her hand at the bundle in his arms. "I highly disapprove."

"My dear professor," the man said, "what better than to keep a mother from mourning, or a child from wanting, than this?" He smiled gently.

"Yes, and I suppose this fills all the requirements in the letter, doesn't it," she snapped back. He said nothing to this, only offered her a small candy in admission of the missing requirement. "I suppose this is a calming concoction, isn't it," she demanded.

The old man chuckled, "Only a lemon drop, my dear, dear professor." When she still didn't take it, he popped it in his own mouth. He then proceeded to take out his wand and waved it at the window, which opened soundlessly. He then waved it over the bundle, saying "This will ensure that the glamour wears off over time." The lines in the woman's face proceeded to deepen as he climbed in the window in a way unbefitting his age and rank. She kept guard outside the house.

The old man sighed as he switched the babies, realizing that the younger one was already dead. He had hoped he wouldn't be able to find a family where this would work…

"Professor," he said, "it seems as if it will be necessary to make one last stop tonight. We need not try to solve any sickness tonight." His heart was heavy as he said it. When he looked up at the woman, he saw her eyes fixed on something beyond him. He turned. "Also," he added, "it would appear that you need to work on doing magic in your animagus form." He muttered a spell and the father of the baby fell to the ground, asleep.